Such apparatus have become known under the name “random bin picking” and in particular serve the equipping of production plant with workpieces that are supplied in an unordered manner in a bin. Such apparatus are known, for example, from the documents DE102014008444A1, DE102014008108A1, DE102014008107A1, DE102013013114A1, DE102012013031A1, DE102012013030A1, DE102012013029A1, DE102012013023A1, DE102012013022A1 and DE102012012988A1 of the same applicant.
The picking of workpieces from a bin represents a complex object. It has in particular proved to be difficult to ensure both a complete emptying of the bins and an exact placement of the workpieces on the desired end placement area. It is therefore known from the above-named prior art to use a buffering station on which the first picker places the workpieces after the removal from the bin. A positioning apparatus, for example in the form of a second picker, is then used to position the workpieces more precisely and/or to isolate them starting from the buffering station.
DE 102012012988A1 thus shows a buffering station having a slanted plane on which the first picker configured as a magnetic picker drops the workpieces picked from the bin. The workpieces slide from there to a transport path that transports the workpieces to a removal region. A second object recognition device is provided there that again detects the workpieces on the transport path so that the second picker used as a positioning apparatus can pick them and arrange them on the end placement area more accurately. The transport belt has a circulation region and an expulsion region. DE 102012012988A1 mentions that alternatively to the design shown in the embodiment a buffering station can be used that has a turntable as a transport device.
It is the object of the present disclosure to further improve the known apparatus for the automated removal of workpieces arranged in a bin.
This object is achieved by an apparatus for automated removal of workpieces arranged in a bin, having a first object recognition device for detecting the workpieces in the bin; a first picker for picking and removing the workpieces from the bin; a controller for evaluating data of the first object recognition device, for path planning and for controlling the first picker; a buffering station on which the first picker places the workpieces after the removal from the bin; and a positioning apparatus that positions and/or isolates the workpieces, starting from the buffering station, wherein the buffering station has at least one tiltable placement area that is tiltable into a slanted position via a tilting mechanism; by an apparatus having a first object recognition device for detecting the workpieces in the bin; a first picker for picking and removing the workpieces from the bin; a controller for evaluating the data of the first object recognition device, for path planning and for controlling the first picker; a buffering station on which the first picker places the workpieces after the removal from the bin, with the intermediate station comprising a transport device that transports the workpieces from a placement region into a removal region; a positioning apparatus that positions and/or isolates the workpieces, starting from the buffering station; and a second object recognition device for detecting the workpieces on the transport device, wherein the second object recognition device has a light source for illuminating the workpiece, with the second object recognition device having a casing that reduces the incidence of scattered light onto the workpiece from the outside; and by an apparatus for the automated removal of workpieces arranged in a bin, in particular in accordance with one of the preceding claims, having a first object recognition device for detecting the workpieces in the bin; a first picker for picking and removing the workpieces from the bin; a controller for evaluating the data of the first object recognition device, for path planning and for controlling the first picker; a buffering station on which the first picker places the workpieces after the removal from the bin, with the intermediate station comprising a turntable that transports the workpieces from a placement region into a removal region; a positioning apparatus that positions and/or isolates the workpieces, starting from the buffering station; and a second object recognition device for detecting the workpieces on the turntable, wherein the second object recognition device is arranged above the turntable such that, on a movement from the placement region into a removal region, a workpiece moves into a detection region where it is detected by the second object recognition device before it is moved further toward the removal region by rotation of the turntable. Further advantageous embodiments of the present invention form the subject of the dependent claims.
In a first aspect, the present disclosure comprises an apparatus for the automated removal of workpieces arranged in a bin, said apparatus having a first object recognition device for detecting the workpieces in the bin, a first picker for picking and removing the workpieces from the bin, and a controller for evaluating the data of the first object recognition device, for path planning and for controlling the first picker. The apparatus further has a buffering station on which the first picker places the workpieces after the removal from the bin and it has a positioning apparatus that more accurately positions and/or isolates the workpieces starting from the buffering station. In accordance with the present disclosure, provision is made in accordance with the first aspect that the buffering station has at least one tillable placement area that is tiltable into a slanted position via a tilting mechanism. In accordance with the first aspect of the present disclosure, the placement area can therefore be used to place workpieces on the placement area. It is furthermore possible by the tilting capability to bring the placement area into a slanted position. This allows new deployment options. The placement area may form a slanted plane for this purpose in the slanted position into which it can be tilted.
In an embodiment, the placement area has a first position in which it is aligned substantially horizontally and it has the second slanted position, wherein the placement area can be tilted by the tilting mechanism from the first position into the second position and/or from the second position into the first position. The tilting mechanism optionally has a drive via which the placement area can be tilted. A pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder and/or a linear drive can be used, for example. The placement area may have a horizontal tilt axis about which it can be tilted.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the tiltable placement area is configured such that a workpiece placed on the tiltable placement area slides from the tiltable placement area due to the tilting. This can, for example, be used to isolate and/or sort workpieces. The workpiece can slide from the tiltable placement area onto a further region of the buffering station.
The tiltable placement area can have an open edge that is at the bottom in the slanted position such that workpieces can slide over this edge without impediment. The placement area can furthermore have an upwardly projecting margin in lateral regions adjoining the open edge, said margin preventing workpieces from sliding off the placement area there.
In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the buffering station has a transport device that transports the workpieces from a placement region into a removal region. Due to the spatial separation of the placement region and of the removal region, it becomes simpler to allow the first picker that serves for the placement and the positioning apparatus that serves for removing the workpieces from the buffering station to work in parallel with and/or independently of one another.
In an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport device is a turntable.
In a first variant of the first aspect, the tiltable placement area is arranged such that a workpiece placed on the tiltable placement area slides onto the transport device by tilting the tiltable placement area. The tiltable placement area can therefore in particular be used for isolation.
The apparatus may have a sensor that recognizes whether more than one workpiece is picked. The controller is in particular configured such that it controls the picker when more than one picked workpiece was detected such that the workpieces are placed on the tiltable placement area and slide onto the transport device by tilting the placement area. If more than one workpiece was picked, it is typically because the workpiece picked by the picker has got caught by another workpiece. The sliding from the placement area onto the transport device supports the release of such a caught arrangement. A light barrier can be used as the sensor, for example, that determines whether the picked workpiece ends at a defined spacing from the first picker. If the workpiece does not end at the defined spacing, a conclusion is drawn that more than one workpiece has been picked.
The controller may be configured such that, when only one workpiece has been picked, it is placed directly on the transport device. If only one workpiece has been picked, the tiltable placement area is therefore not required.
As already described above, the transport device may be a turntable so that in the first variant a workpiece slides from the tiltable placement area onto a placement area of the turntable.
In a second variant of the first aspect, the tiltable placement area is arranged at the transport device. In an optional embodiment, the transport device has a plurality of separately tiltable placement areas.
The tiltable placement area may in particular be arranged at a turntable, with the turntable having a plurality of separately tiltable placement areas.
All the placement areas of the transport device can in particular be configured as tiltable. If it is a turntable, a plurality of placement areas may be provided that are each separately tiltable, with all of the placement areas optionally being tiltable.
A tiltable placement area in accordance with the present disclosure can be used for expelling defective and/or surplus and/or caught workpieces. A placement area arranged at the transport device can in particular serve the expulsion of defective and/or surplus and/or caught workpieces. Optionally, however, a bitable placement area arranged at the transport device can also be used for the expulsion.
The apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure optionally has an expulsion apparatus that is arranged such that a workpiece placed on the tiltable placement area slides to the expulsion apparatus by tilting the placement area.
The expulsion apparatus can be a drawer in a possible embodiment. The drawer may be operated from outside a protective enclosure of the apparatus. This allows expelled workpieces to be manually removed from the apparatus without the plant having to be stopped for this purpose.
The expulsion apparatus may be arranged beneath the transport device such that a workpiece located on this placement area slides into the expulsion apparatus by tilting a placement area arranged at the transport device.
The apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure can have a plurality of tiltable placement areas.
The first and second variants of the first aspect of the present disclosure can optionally be combined with one another. A first tiltable placement area can in particular be provided, with workpieces placed on the first tiltable placement area sliding onto the transport device by tilting. A second tiltable placement area can furthermore be provided that is arranged at the transport device. Workpieces may be expelled by tilting the second tiltable placement area.
In a second independent aspect, the present disclosure comprises an apparatus for the automated removal of workpieces arranged in a bin, said apparatus having a first object recognition device for detecting the workpieces in the bin, a first picker for picking and removing the workpieces from the bin, and a controller for evaluating the data of the first object recognition device, for path planning and for controlling the first picker. A buffering station is furthermore provided on which the first picker places the workpieces after the removal from the bin, with the buffering station comprising a transport device that transports the workpieces from a placement region in a removal region. A positioning apparatus is furthermore provided that more accurately positions and/or isolates the workpieces, starting from the buffering station, and a second object recognition device for detecting the workpieces on the transport device. In accordance with the second aspect, the second object recognition device has a light source for illuminating the workpiece. Such a light source allows a substantially improved object detection that is independent of the environmental light.
The second object recognition device may have a casing that reduces the incidence of scattered light from outside onto the workpiece. The casing therefore allows an improved object detection by the second object recognition device since it is ensured that the workpieces are always detected under the same light conditions.
The casing particularly may extend from a sensor of the second object recognition device that is arranged at a first spacing from a placement area of the transport device toward the transport device. A supply region and a discharge region remain open between the casing and the placement area of the transport device that allow the supply and discharge of workpieces on the transport device into the region of the casing. The casing allows the sensor to be arranged at a spacing particularly suitable for the detection and nevertheless to control the light conditions in the detection region.
The casing may end in the supply region and in the discharge region at a second spacing from the placement area of the transport device that amounts to less than 50% of the first spacing. The second spacing optionally amounts to less than 20% of the first spacing. The casing therefore ends substantially closer to the placement area of the transport device than the sensor is arranged with respect to it.
The casing may form a housing open toward the transport device.
The sensor may be arranged above the transport device and the side walls of the casing extend downwardly from above toward the transport device.
The light source of the second object recognition device may be arranged in or at the casing.
In a third aspect, the present disclosure comprises an apparatus for the automated removal of workpieces arranged in a bin, said apparatus having a first object recognition device for detecting the workpieces in the bin, a first picker for picking and removing the workpieces from the bin, and a controller for evaluating the data of the first object recognition device, for path planning and for controlling the first picker. The apparatus furthermore has a buffering station on which the first picker places the workpieces after the removal from the bin, with the buffering station comprising a turntable that transports the workpieces from a placement region in a removal region. A positioning apparatus is furthermore provided that more accurately positions and/or isolates the workpieces, starting from the buffering station, and a second object recognition device for detecting the workpieces on the turntable. In accordance with the third aspect, the second object recognition device is arranged above the turntable such that, on a movement from the placement region into a removal region, a workpiece moves into a detection region where it is detected by the second object recognition device before it is moved further toward the removal region by rotation of the turntable. In accordance with the present disclosure, not only the placement and the removal of the workpieces therefore take place, but additionally also the detection of the workpieces in regions spatially separate from one another. The spatially separate detection has the advantage that no account has to be taken of the working region of the positioning apparatus during the detection. Despite the spatially separate detection of the workpieces, the position of the workpieces is also exactly known in the removal region due to the turntable and said position can therefore be used for the exact control of the positioning apparatus.
The turntable may work in a cycle and may have at least three rotational positions, with a placement of the turntable being arranged in the placement region in the first rotational position of the turntable, in the detection region in the second rotational position, and in the removal region in the third rotational position. A workpiece that was placed on the placement area in a first cycle therefore moves into the detection region where it is detected in a later cycle and into the removal region in an even later cycle where it is removed from the turntable by the positioning apparatus.
The placement of a workpiece on the turntable may take place by the first picker, the detection of a workpiece on the turntable by the second object detection device, and the picking back up of the workpiece from the turntable by the positioning apparatus with a respectively stationary turntable. The stationary turntable allows a particularly exact procedure.
The turntable optionally has at least three placement areas, with a second placement area being in the detection region and a third placement area being in the removal region whenever a first placement area is arranged in the placement region. This allows a parallel operation in all three regions.
In the third aspect, the individual placement areas of the turntable do not have to be physically separated from one another. In an example embodiment, the turntable may simply have a round physical placement area that is only divided into different placement areas by the controller with a cycled mode of operation. The placement areas are, in contrast, may be designed as separate table elements that can further be tilted separately from one another.
There may respectively simultaneously takes place: a placement of a first workpiece on the turntable by the first picker, a detection of a second workpiece on the turntable by the second object recognition device, and a picking back up again of a third workpiece from the turntable by the positioning apparatus.
The turntable can have exactly three placement areas in an example embodiment and/or the three steps of placement, detection, and picking back up can take place in three consecutive cycles. In alternative embodiments, the turntable can, however, have more than three placement areas that can, for example, be used as additional storage.
The apparatus in accordance with the first, second, and third aspects of the present disclosure are each subject matters of the present application independently of one another. However, the first and second aspects may be combined with one another, and/or the second and third aspects may be combined with one another, and/or the first and third aspects may be combined with one another. Optionally, all three aspects are may be combined with one another.
On a combination of the second and third aspects, the casing is may be arranged in the detection region, with the placement areas of the turntable each being able to be traveled beneath the casing by rotation of the turntable.
On a combination of the second and first aspects, the bitable placement may be arranged and/or arrangeable beneath the casing. An expulsion can hereby take place immediately by tilting the placement area when a defective part and/or an incorrect number of parts and/or caught parts are detected by the second object recognition device. The expulsion apparatus may be arranged such that, by tilting a tiltable placement area arranged beneath the casing, the workpieces arranged on this placement area slide into the expulsion apparatus. The whole base surface of the tiltable placement area is further optionally located beneath the casing, with the side walls of the casing optionally enabling a tilting of the placement area within the casing.
On a combination of the third and first aspects, the placement areas of the turntable may be tiltable. The expulsion apparatus may be arranged such that, by tilting a tiltable placement area arranged in the detection region, the workpieces arranged on this placement area slide into the expulsion apparatus. An expulsion can hereby take place immediately by tilting the placement area when a defective part and/or an incorrect number of parts and/or caught parts are detected by the second object recognition device.
Example embodiments of the present disclosure that can be used in apparatus in accordance with each of the above-descried aspects will be described in more detail in the following.
In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the positioning apparatus can pick up the workpieces from the buffering station and can place them on a second buffering station and/or on an end placement area. The second buffering station can, for example, be used to change the orientation of the workpieces again and/or to carry out worksteps at the workpieces. The end placement area can in particular be a transport device that supplies the workpieces to processing and/or assembly.
The positioning apparatus may be used to pick up the workpieces from the buffering station and to selectively place them on the second buffering station and on the end placement area.
A second object recognition device may be provided that determines the orientation of the workpiece on the buffering station. The controller may decide whether a workpiece moves directly to the end placement area or first to the second buffering station on the basis of the data of the second object recognition device.
Provision can furthermore be made that the second buffering station is a repicking location that allows a picking of the workpiece with a changed orientation relative to the picker.
If a workpiece is already in a position on the buffering station that allows a picking with a desired alignment, it can be placed directly on the end placement area by the positioning apparatus. If it is, in contrast, recognized that the workpiece is disposed on the buffering position such that it cannot be placed on the end placement area as desired, it is first taken to the second buffering station where it is again picked with a changed orientation relative to the picker before it is placed on the end placement area. This procedure may be repeated automatically by the controller. Both the placement and the picking up from the second buffering station may take place by the positioning apparatus.
The first object recognition device may be a 3D sensor. The first object recognition device can in particular comprise a laser scanner. Since the workpieces are typically arranged in a plurality of layers and in an unordered manner in the bin, 3D information is required for a successful picking.
The second object recognition device, in contrast, may optionally comprise a 2D sensor. A 3D sensor can in particular be dispensed with in the second object recognition device since the workpieces are already arranged in isolation and at a defined level. An apparatus in accordance with the second and third aspects additionally simplifies the detection and therefore also enables a secure operation of the positioning apparatus by means of a 2D detection. The 2D sensor can in particular be a camera sensor.
The positioning apparatus may comprise a picker for removing the workpieces from the buffering station. In a possible embodiment, the first picker can also be used as a positioning apparatus, i.e. both the placing on the buffering station and the picking up from the buffering station takes place by the first picker. The picker of the positioning apparatus may optionally be a second picker.
The first and/or second pickers is/may be moved by a picker arm. It can be a robot arm of a 6-axis robot or a picker arm arranged at a surface portal or at a linear portal. The first and second pickers can be arranged at the same picker arm. The first and second pickers, however, may optionally each be arranged separately at a first or at a second picker arm.
In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of bins with workpieces from which the first picker can pick workpieces can be arranged in the working region of the first picker. A supply arrangement having at least two supply regions arranged next to one another for bins can in particular be provided. The supply arrangement therefore permits the supply of a plurality of bins into the working region of the first picker.
The supply arrangement may permit the exchange of an empty first bin while a second bin is simultaneously emptied by the first picker. Alternatively or additionally, the apparatus can permit the selective removal of workpieces from two bins.
The first object recognition device may be moved over each of the bins and/or supply regions by means of a travel arrangement. This permits workpieces to be detected in each of the bins with only a first object recognition device.
A separation apparatus can furthermore be provided via which the supply regions can be individually separated from the working region of the first picker. This allows a bin to be changed while the apparatus removes workpieces from another bin. A hood can in particular be provided as the separation apparatus that can be moved over one of the bins and/or one of the supply regions.
At least three supply regions may be provided. This permits, on the one hand, workpieces to be removed from two bins in parallel, with the third supply region being used to replace empty bins with full bins.
In an example embodiment, the apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure is configured such that a plurality of different workpieces can be handled next to one another. Workpieces may be removed from at least two bins in parallel. Further, at least two different end placement areas and/or two transport paths may be provided for transporting the different workpieces away.
In addition to the apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure, the present disclosure further comprises corresponding buffering stations such as were described above for the apparatus in accordance with the first, second and third aspects.
The present disclosure will now be explained in more detail with reference to embodiments and to drawings.